Since the last three years, I haven’t bought a single pair of sneakers, and the reason is simple: I can’t afford it. Although I successfully turned this “desperate“ feeling to motivation, which made me work hard.

不过上个月起，这招开始不管用了，又开始渐渐买起新鞋了。导致的原因是：画的鞋数量下降了。

But since last month, I started to buy sneakers again. And the reason is simple as well: I haven’t drawn that much of sneakers.

看起来，画饼充饥这事儿是真行的通的啊！

So the story that you can actually draw a cake and stop getting hungry is true!

如下是这几年所画的球鞋，请尽情地往下刷吧！

Below are the sneakers I drew for the “HUNGER“, please swipe down to look. Thanks!

Recently, my seven years old laptop burned it's graphic chip because of the weather.

最近，由于天气突然巨热，用了7年的笔记本电脑花了屏，彻底申请了退休。

So I went to Apple's 5th Avenue flagship with my old dying friend, where they broke the sales record per square foot in the world. I looked at those stylish stuff with tears in my eyes, waited for their comforting smile and told me: "No worry, we will take care of you!" But the well-trained genius didn't even open the computer's cap. They were like: Hey, would that going to kill you if you could just buy a newer version of our product?

It was my second year in college, I got my first computer, a self-configured PC, second hand from a friend. It was slow and it had a problem with the contact finger on the memory stick. What happened was when I turned on the computer, the main board often sounded alarm, ocassionaly, and on the screen there was a line said: Keyboard error. The curious thing was it didn't happen every time. Back in 18 years ago, I already learned the machines could have temper.

My college room, bed were on top, desk were down below. In those years, we only had CRT monitors, which looked like television. And we all use desktop computers because no one could afford the laptops. So if you walked to our rooms, specially in summer seasons, you would have seen every one sitting in front of their "Naked" computers, we took off the shell of the computers and put an extra ventilation (normally for humans) on it, to spread out the "heat" of our sexy babies.

In 2011, the year Steve Jobs passed away, I commemorated him by purchasing this 15" Macbook Pro, my first Apple product, with my two months salary. Since then, I became a royal Mac user- the one who is not going to sleep outside of Apple store for the new released product, but who loves too much about every single detail and never wanted to upgrade.

乔布斯去世那年，我用两个月的工资缅怀了他，买下这台15寸的Macbook Pro, 从此变成了MAC的忠实用户。

So since then, my days of re-installing the system every 2-months passed away, as well as video games. I used my new baby making lots of illustrations, keynotes. It did helped me developing my career. Click HERE to see "The theatre of shadows" illustrations that I published on Mengya Magazine. They were all made by the help of this computer.

I always have strong feelings with the objects that I used: old phones, chaires, pens or sneakers. After I started using Mac, I found myself falling in love with the MAC OS system. I even didn’t want to upgrade the system after Moutain Lion. Not because I didn’t like the new super flat interface and those fancy new apps. It’s just I hate to say goodbye to my old system. Sheldon was always right about these: Change is never good!

我向来对使用过的物件会产生感情，用过的手机，穿过的鞋，打过的球，坐过的椅子等等。自从用了Mac之后，我开始对操作系统也产生了感情，所以自Moutain Lion之后，我一直没有更新操作系统。每次看到苹果最新的发布会，耳边总是想起谢耳朵的名言：Change is NEVER good!

So instead of buying a new slim retina ssd Macbook, I bought a 2012 Mac mini with a quarter of the price. It’s a second hand one in good condition.

I fixed the small problem of the ventilation (same issue like my 1th computer: the contact problem). Then it runs well. I can do most of the works by this new friend, except video recording and editing. So I think I might not be able to do the process video recently.

Someone told me that she wished to hang my drawing on her new home's wall. Then she send me the photo of the repainted wall and size (luckily, no deadline). The size was 15X19 inches, it was the largest size that I had been commissioned for the last 3 years. I was so excited and got to started immediately.

These are the snapshot of the city where I lived: The street side of Soho, the studio of SimpHoo, upperWest twilight, laundry downstairs, and the iron bridge on east 125th Street.

这几个场景都来自我居住的城市：口香糖满地的Soho街边人行道；辛普猴的工作室内；上西区街边入夜时分；楼下的洗衣店和东125街铁桥下。

My client chose the last one without any hesitation. Her comment was: I can smell the spring on it!

客户毫不犹豫地选择了最后一张，她的回复是：仿佛能从这张画里闻到春天的味道呢。

But client is always client, she also showed her "dislike" about CoolNoodle's orange short. It wasn't about the color, she just simply didn't like the style of the short. To me, the reason I put this short on her was because I need a complementary color to POP-UP girl's blue Knicks jacket.

2nd round sketches. 第二轮草图

So I tried another round for the combination:

于是，我又试了下面三个不同的搭配。

This time, the client chose the 1st version with denim short. Actually I like girls wearing that too, especially the low-rise and you can actually see the lower half butts. I didn't draw that at the 1st time simply because I drew it too much. BTW, I really don't like the the high-waisted loose short!

Further sketches, confirming the tones and color combination. For the first time I tried this "curve perspective".

进一步，确定构图，黑白灰和色彩关系的两个阶段。第一次尝试用了一个“弧形”透视来框住背景中的铁桥。

When you have the same taste with your client, things always get easier. But I had to find a way to solve the complementary problem. I tried this: Adding a yellow traffic light on the left and choosing a more cheerful posture for CoolNoodle by raising her leg and turning her head toward the camera. And that did make the difference.

By the way, no matter how I tried, I could never reach the vibe of the sketches on the final drawing. Sketches are always better drawing than my final ones. I was quite struggled until I saw the great masters of renaissance and impressionism. They are all the same, drafts are always their best works.

I think there are 2 reasons why the sketches are always so vivid, one is when you are making a sketch, you are starting from nothing, empty; second is the mind is aware of this is a "sketch", but not a precious final work. These two mind reason make the difference. The funny things is: Top 10 most precious calligraphy works in Chinese history, were all drafts.

The 60% of the final size 正稿的百分之六十

Being as a slave of the "Ctrl+Z" for many years, I need an unofficial version before I screw up on the final paper. I treat this one as a preparation, and some test with my brushes and colors. I used Canson Mixed Media 11x14 inches Sketchbook. You can check the drawing video here.

Starting from pencilling 从铅笔开始的正稿

The final finally started! I used Canson Foundation Bristol 260gsm paper, with vellum surface.

正稿开始！使用的是康颂 Foundation系列的260g卡纸，左图是此纸裱在四开画板上的样子。

My client lives in Shanghai, so this drawing need to be rolled in a mailing tube. (Flat cardboard is also an option, but I was worried the long distance traveling will damage the cardboard)

客户远在上海，这张需要通过国际快递的画必须卷起来放在画筒里，所以必须使用足够结实的纸，和防水的颜料。

This scene-breaker is PiDan. Rather than CoolNoodle's rising leg, he was more interested in a foam brick under the drawing board.

抢镜的家伙是屁小蛋，比起凉皮高高翘起的美腿，他更感兴趣的是垫在画板下面的泡沫塑料。

The drawing process 绘制过程

The process from penciling to inking. 从铅笔到勾线

I always color from the skin. Once the skin tone was set, I will have controls with other parts. 我习惯由肤色开始上色，这样最容易奠定整体色调。

Detail: The escape staircase, and the graffiti on the Honda Monkey. 细节 公寓上的消防梯，和摩托上的涂鸦。

BTW, The tiny little moto that SimpHoo was driving on was Honda Monkey Z50. It was once teen Michael Jackson's riding! While I was drawing it, I use a 1/12 plastic model as the reference. Every component was based on real.....plastic model.

In 2017, by the purpose of seeking the visual language (or you can say: the style) of SimpHoo-the carpenter monkey at New York Public Library comic, I made this illustration. Through this drawing, I found the way to merge my fictional characters and realistic scene. I'd like to share the process with you in this blog.

Before I drew the sketches, I had an vision about the monkey was running on the library's marble staircases with CoolNoodle-the cat ears girl, and there were long, twisted shadows chasing after them. But after I did the researches on site, I decided to change the background in stead of the inner part: The Rose Main Reading Room. The reason was quite obvious: The Rose Main Reading Room was the 1st result when I search "New York Public Library" .

So I designed such a composition: On the center of the image, my two main characters standing right in front of the camera and looking toward their front. It appeared something/someone dangerous is coming to them. (I promised I won't spoil and I will not tell you what are they now!) The background will show not only the ceiling and the big chandeliers, as well as the library's iconic reading tables and lamps. Through manipulating the vanishing point, the ceiling and floor's brick compose two triangles, and they gathered at the center of the image, which created not only the depth, but also the radial shape which is going to grab your attention to my characters. It's super old fashion, but super worked out.

Then I drew these two sketches below by the size of a bank card. Then colored them, and tried to figure out the way to color it for the final version. I used Canson Mixed Media paper (98lb/160g) for this kind of drawing. They are heavy enough to hold the watercolors and inks, and they are not too rough as watercolor papers, so I could easily draw or modify my drawing with eraser, then put them into my scanner.

It seems the left piece had a better clarity because I limited the colors to 1 set of complementary-which is orange and blue. It worked with the gorgeous Rose Main Reading Room. But how about the other scene in the stories? I didn't have an answer at that moment...

For the next few days I would keep thinking about compositions, layouts, anatomy of the characters, facial expressions, colors, etc... It was half anxious and half exciting. But if I didn't find my time to draw it on final, the inspirations and excitements would just pass, and I will loose the motivation to draw it.

After experienced many times to dealing with my unfinished projects, I decided to NOT transferring any of my daily "UNexpected" ideas to any drawing. In stead, I wrote them down by texts. It's a good way for me to keep the seeds, but not the wild grass. Of course, that demands some self discipline, and I think anyone would have it if you have several unfinished and "never will do" sketchbooks.

For penciling and inking, I use the blue pencil for drafting and a light box to ink. I didn't like inking directly on the penciling lines because it took me so many time to erase them. And It really pissed me off when I saw the missing inked area after I erased the pencil lines.

But recent days, my dear LED light box made my eyes tearful and red because I starred at it for pretty long time. OMG, there is just no such thing like a perfect way!

但最近，由于盯着LED的拷贝台看的时间太久，眼睛红肿酸痛的不行。真是世间没有十全十美的方法啊！

Below is the comparison with traditional coloring and digital coloring. Left piece is colored by watercolor. I actually did this one first. What happened next is I wasn't satisfied about it, so I used the ink wash piece to color it with Photoshop, and it came the right one. Just for you to know: Always scan your inking pages or ink washed pages before you color it!

Although both of them have their own good parts, the left one had a vintage and more organic feeling. It was more like a "30years from now, the library is lack of repairing version". But I decided to show the right one to my publisher. The result proved I was right. With this drawing as the cover illustration of my book plan, I got the publisher's attention before I actually started drawing the comic. The most important thing is, through this illustration, I found the confidence to capture the "sense" of the story. And after one more year's preparation, I finally started to work on it.

I'm not sure if this is going to be the final cover illustration of the comic book, because I haven't go through the book design yet. But I hope I would be on some higher level and having some other perspectives, so I can make a new one.

These are the journals of the SimpHoo comic. It took me 3 months to finish the 1,2,3.

During the time I make the comic, every day I write down the important experiences and inspirations, if I can still open my eyes in the end of the day. These A5 notebook from Muji are my favorite notebooks for writing. They are thin so my hand wouldn't dangling while I was writing on the edge. They are exactly the half size of A4 (international copy paper), and they are simple and well designed. It's very easy to carry them, as well as archive them. The left corner one (with rounded corner) was brought in 2016. Unfortunately they stopped selling it. I really liked the rounded corner which preventing the corner of the notebook being hit.

So I brought 5packs this time for those 3 on top. Hoping they won't stop it again. On the moment I write down this sentence, I think I should go buy more.

The SimpHoo comic need entire 2 years to finish. That didn't count the time I wrote the story. From thumbnails and storyboards, to penciling, inking and coloring, it does consume this amount of time. So I decided to record my days by writing the journal. Actually they are more like the logs. For example: April 6th, Sunny, Penciling Chapter1 page024. Did 85% of the architecture, eyes turning to red, have to continue tomorrow...etc/

I also write down the "unexpected ideas". These ideas comes from nowhere, like, if you are experiencing some beautiful moment and you want to capture that feeling by drawing. They are very important for artist because they are inspirations. If you just let them go, they will never come again, but if you follow them without any discipline, they would lead you to somewhere else rather than your own route. I've been through it, a lot of times. So I found this way to write down it then check my yesterday's TO DO list, to be precisely, yesterday's UNFINISHED TO DO list. It always set my route straight. The interesting thing is, when you read your journal from 2 weeks ago, they looks like someone else's thought, that's something I didn't know before.

Inside pages of my journals, I wrote in Chinese most of the time, but for some technical words I use english. The 1/3 line is for the tips. 创作笔记内页，页面三分之一处划一根线，用以添加备注。

我从小到大从未写过日记，但竟发现用这种方法记录自己的人生，才真正明白时间都花在了什么地方，或者说，浪费在了什么地方。

I have never written any journal since I was a kid, until I just visualized the time we passed by flipping through these journals, or to be more precisely, the time I wasted.

The calendar and idea book 日程本和点子本

日程本 Calendar

点子本 Idea book

Except the journals, I also keep one calendar book and one idea book(the black one). Yes they are all Muji's too! I love Moleskine too but Muji is much cheaper. It threatened me when I'm facing an expensive notebook. Besides, since I learned how to binding my own Moleskine style notebook, I didn't pay a cent. (I will talk about it later)

As you can see, I separate these notebooks by functions: sketchbook for sketching, Pads for finish artwork, and lined notebooks for writings. In the meantime, I control the numbers of notebooks for the same project, archive them by time, and keep them as the same height (21cm or 8 1/4 inches). I know, it's very obsessive, but it's efficient for me.

Like any other artist, I keep drawing on several sketchbooks at the same time. They are divided by project or sizes, papers. I would like to share my experience of using them, as soon as I finished them:) Next time, I will talk about the very important step of my comic's production- the thumbnails and "Name".

Hi! Welcome to my journey of making the SimpHoo comic!

欢迎来到辛普猴的漫画创作博客!

SimpHoo-A carpenter monkey.

SimpHoo is a carpenter monkey who lives in New York City. I created this character in 2014. I used to post his story on Weibo(A Chinese social media platform), with the format of web comic. After several years of learning and developing every fundamental acknowledge of telling stories by making comics, as well as sharpening my drawing skills and drawing styles, I decided to take the story to a longer, an appropriate size and well designed physical comic book. A book you can flip and smell, and a story who can inspire you and others.

Today I am very happy to announce that after over 6 months' preparation and negotiation, I finally got the green light from my publisher in Beijing. SimpHoo's comic is going to be printed on paper!! The 1st episode will be published in 2020!

It will be 120 pages, Simplified Chinese and printed in full-color. I wrote the story and I will illustrate it and color it by myself. The monkey's journey started in the New York Public Library. Where every scene and the entire "adventure routine" are all based on real the New York Public Library. The moment that I wrote this blog, is when I am inking page 23 and 24, which is the last page of Chapter 1. I still have a long way to go but I feel almost touch the first mile stone.

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library 1908. Photo from Wikipedia.

The reason that I choose New York Public Library(Stephen A. Schwarzman Building) as the story's background is because that's the place I found the story. It's actually such a wonderful place that you don't expect to not have any inspirations. I have to tell you, the part of the motivation that I choose this place as the story's background is because I want to draw it. It's just so incredible!

So that's it, my first blog of SimpHoo-the carpenter monkey. And I would like to use this blog as the journal to record my working progress, sharing my methods and inspirations. It won't like a weekly or monthly commitment. But I'll post the contents that I think would be interesting. I can't promise I will post weekly or monthly, but I can promise you that I will try my best to not spoil! So you will have the 100% "original experience" when you hold the printed book in your hand, which is the biggest reason that I made my effort to it.